Leavitt principal, Auburn attorney speak about LGBTQ rights in schools

TURNER — Eben Shaw, principal of Leavitt High School and Rebecca Webber, attorney at Skelton Taintor & Abbott in Auburn, recently spoke to school board members and school officials on the topic of LGBTQ in the schools as part of a program sponsored by the Maine School Management Association.

Webber explained the contours of the legal requirements, and Shaw gave guidance on how to address issues and turn them into conversations, not problems.
They both discussed how gender identity has changed over the decades, including what it means to be male or female or neither, how sexual orientation has been with us since Native Americans and earlier and how a school community can understand and accommodate differences.
he Maine Principal’s Association also has rules in the area of sports and has created a workable process for handling requests to be on a team that may not match one’s birth gender. Whether it is accommodating disabilities or LGBTQ issues, it boils down to talking with the student and their family and coming up with a plan that is safe and appropriate and tailored to the individual, the two stressed.
The presentation led to engaged participation by attendees, who were not only able to get questions answered but were able to share ideas and solutions with each other rather than re-invent the wheel separately in each district.

PHOTO: Rebecca Webber, an attorney at Skelton Taintor & Abbott in Auburn, left, and Eben Shaw, principal at Leavitt High School in Turner, spoke to school officials recently on the issues surrounding LGBTQ as part of a Maine School Management Association program. (Submitted photo)